Why do totals keep changing

hartk001
hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
edited December 2 in Getting Started
I'm relatively new to MyFitNessPal and I have a question

I've set my goals as Calories 1450; Carbs 10 percent (36g); Fat 70 percent (113g) Protein 20 percent

However I've started to notice that these figures keep changing e.g. this morning my breakfast consisted of 433 Calories, 4 Carbs and 30 Fat. I'm doing a LCHF diet.

Anyway I've noticed that my daily goal changed, probably due to a 15 min walk to the shop which according to MFP burned 55 calories. Now my goals are now appearing as Calories 1505; Carbs (37 that's an increase of 7) Fat 117 (an increase of 4)

I don't understand why are these increasing, and which should I be guided by the set goals or the changing goals

Kevin

Replies

  • xmarye
    xmarye Posts: 385 Member
    Because macros go along with calories. Fat is 9cals per gram as carbs and protein are 4cals per gram. Therefore, if you goal is 1450cals, and you have set a certain % for your macro goals, it will calculate the total amount of grams accordingly. If you increase your calories, MFP will adjust your macros as per the % you have chosen. Hope this helps!
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,032 Member
    Are you talking about your exercise calories being added on when you post your workouts? That's probably why the calorie change is happening and that would also be why your other macros are adjusting themselves.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    MFP adds calories to your allowance when you log exercise (or if you have a fitness tracker linked). This gives you more calories to eat so that your deficit remains close to your target weight loss.

    Because the macros are set as a percentage of total calories, the grams of each will increase when calories are added. MFP pro users can set the macros as grams instead of percentage.

    You can feel free to ignore the macro goals when they increase and refer to the gram totals as you log, MFP pro isn't required for that.
  • spring913
    spring913 Posts: 158 Member
    MFP is designed so that you loose weight without exercise. When you add exercise to your diary MFP expects you to eat those calories back and adds them to your daily total. More calories = higher carbs, fat etc. A lot of us eat back 50-75% of our exercise calories to account for MFP's overestimating of burned calories.

    For example. Your daily goal is 1500 cal. You burn 200 cal exercising. MFP now gives you 1700 cal for the day. If you eat 1700 cal, you've reached your 1500 cal goal and will loose weight. If you eat 1500 cal, you've now put yourself into a deeper deficit of 1300 cal, and are risking not eating enough calories to fuel your body and will burn more lean muscle mass than you want. Make sense?
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    Under nutrients my actual amount of protein needed changes after I log exercise, is that what you mean? My goal at the start of the day was 60 grams but after a long walk it said my goal was 94!
  • hartk001
    hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
    OK so let me see if I understand.

    My goals are set at 1400 Calories, X Carbs, Y Fat and Z Protein. I go for a brisk 45 minute BEFORE breaking my fast so MFP calculates I've burned 250 calories does that mean that to stay within my goal I can eat 1400+250 = 1650 calories and still be within my limits OR if I'm doing this, as I am, to loose weight must I stay 1400 calories or a little bit less.

    If 1650 calories becomes the figure then is it safe to assume that my carb, fat, and protein intake also increase.

    Part of my reason for asking this question is that as it's a Low Carb diet and if it is the 1650 figure I sometimes have more than enough carbs left over for that bit of fruit or a small piece of apple pie, and well I still have that sweet tooth
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    For weight loss, it's most important to keep your calories within your target so that you maintain a consistent deficit. Macro totals are useful, but if you have one day at 70/20/10 and another at 50/30/20, it's not going to make any difference in your weight loss progress as long as you keep your calories lower than your activity burns.

    Many people only eat back a portion of the calories added by exercise because exercise can be overestimated easily.

    So if you have a 1400 cal target, and exercise adds 300, some people would recommend eating only up to 1550 or 1600 to allow for the overestimation and still maintain your deficit.

    Since MFP's standard method is macro percentages, your total grams allowed of each macro increase when you're given extra calories. If your individual macro goal is to stay under a certain level in grams of carbs, you'll have monitor that number as you log so you don't exceed the goal. Alternatively MFP's pro option lets you set macros by gram.



  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    hartk001 wrote: »
    OK so let me see if I understand.

    My goals are set at 1400 Calories, X Carbs, Y Fat and Z Protein. I go for a brisk 45 minute BEFORE breaking my fast so MFP calculates I've burned 250 calories does that mean that to stay within my goal I can eat 1400+250 = 1650 calories and still be within my limits OR if I'm doing this, as I am, to loose weight must I stay 1400 calories or a little bit less.

    If 1650 calories becomes the figure then is it safe to assume that my carb, fat, and protein intake also increase.

    Part of my reason for asking this question is that as it's a Low Carb diet and if it is the 1650 figure I sometimes have more than enough carbs left over for that bit of fruit or a small piece of apple pie, and well I still have that sweet tooth

    Yes.
  • klm62505
    klm62505 Posts: 17 Member
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. There is no way on this earth I can eat the amount of protein it's telling me to consume, so basically that's a goal I'll never hit. I wish it was just stay at one set amount.
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